The Famous Chopped Cheese Video That Sparked Controversy

The chopped cheese is an New York City staple monumental to its urban culture. When food tourism company Insider Foods came to give their tone-deaf review of the sandwich, Almonte felt it hit too close to home to ignore. They are not the first to be insensitive or bastardize the culture surrounding underground foods and pretending that "no one knows about it." From Taco Tuesdays to sushi cones to French-owned Cambodian spider restaurants, these tell-tale signs are what worry locals of the appropriation and commercialization of their everyday lives. For Almonte, the last straw was the viral chopped cheese video.
Almonte reacts to the Chopped Cheese video saying 'this is how it starts.' Hipsters and yuppies--middle class transplants from the Midwestern states-- run to enjoy the hustle-hard urban aesthetic of the hood. Simple things like cheap food and rent entice them to flood to places they're overqualified to live in. They're so oblivious to the existence of poor people... claiming the chopped cheese is a "steal" when these are normal prices for the locals. Calling is a "steal" ironically foreshadows the thieving nature of "Columbus syndrome." This plague was coined by Spike Lee describing when people come to a new 'foreign' place and trumpet their new discoveries, ignoring the locals that already existed there.
Hipsters Invade Harlem after the Chopped Cheese Video
Insider's viral Chopped Cheese video can send an influx of tourists that come to neighborhoods to enjoy poor culture while simultaneously sticking their noses up at poor people. Kids who would look forward to buying the chopped cheese po' boy sandwich are no facing the reality that the prices may skyrocket now that a bunch of White middle-class yuppies will walk in the store bragging about what a "steal" it is.
It's not just a sandwich
It's a symbol of our fleeting culture. Whole Foods wants to make their organic, gluten-free version of the chopped cheese. Bourgeois Upper East Side stores will soon make their new-and-improved chopped cheese on a panini and replace the Arizona with a Naked juice. The bodegas filling up with White people that treat the Hood like a sideshow at the carnival is a mere microcosm of gentrification. Something as simple as a chopped up burger on a hero has now allowed people to understand gentrification on a smaller, simpler scale. Even a year and a half later, the chopped cheese video continues to resurface in the complex conversation of gentrification." />

The chopped cheese is a New York City staple monumental to the city’s urban culture. When food tourism company Insider Foods gave a tone-deaf review of the sandwich, it hit too close to home to ignore. They’re not the first to be insensitive or bastardize the culture surrounding underground foods and pretending that “no one knows about it.” Taco Tuesdays. Sushi Cones. French-owned Cambodian spider restaurants. These tell-tale signs of gentrification have worried locals for years. Insider Food’s Chopped Cheese video was the last straw for Almonte.

Almonte reacts saying ‘this is how it starts.’ Hipsters and yuppies–middle class transplants from the Midwestern states– run to enjoy the hustle-hard urban aesthetic of the hood. Simple things like cheap food and rent entice them to flood to places they’re overqualified to live in. Financially privileged and oblivious to the existence of the poor, they call the price of a chopped cheese a “steal.” The irony of callingit a ‘steal’ foreshadows the thieving nature of Columbus syndrome, a plague coined by Spike Lee to describe a plague of visitors claiming to discover a cultural element locals have indulged in for years.

Hipsters Invade Harlem after the Chopped Cheese Video

At first glance, Insider’s viral Chopped Cheese video sending an influx of tourists seems to be something that would boost Harlem’s local economy. However, kids who would look forward to buying the chopped cheese po’ boy sandwich now face the reality that the prices may skyrocket now that a bunch of White middle-class yuppies will walk in the store bragging about what a “steal” it is. The commodification of edgy underground perks that ‘no one knows about’ becomes an overpriced tourist attraction that business owner’s can exploit at will, leaving locals out of the loop.

‘It’s not supposed to be revolutionary. It’s a f*ckin sandwich.”

But is it really just a sandwich? The chopped cheese video’s sharp rise in popularity has turned what was “just a sandwich” into a symbol of our fleeting culture. Bourgeois Upper East Side stores will soon make their new-and-improved organic, gluten-free, non-GMO chopped cheese on a panini and replace the Arizona with a Naked juice. The bodegas filling up with White people that treat the Hood like a sideshow at the carnival is a mere microcosm of gentrification. Something as simple as a chopped up burger on a hero has now allowed people to understand gentrification on a smaller, simpler scale. Even a year and a half later, the chopped cheese video continues to resurface in the complex conversation of gentrification.